The sound output for Apple TV 3 is distorted

Hello Davith78 and Mikes1:

I read with interest your last posts.

I was glad to read that you're hearing and knowledge is high enough that you were able to discern that the higher frequencies were more distorted than the mids and lows. I find it very interesting that turning down the gain from your source programs does not correct the problem. How could it be that lowering the level sent to the Apple TV would not fix the distortion problem? That is pretty bizarre!

RE: Input Sensitivity: I did not know you could do this with digital inputs. This is new to me. I am sending the Optical Output of the Apple TV to the Optical Input on a Sony DTC-700 DAT machine (I do not own a separate DAC), and then out the analog left and right to my receiver. Although the input levels on the DAT machine "peg", they do not overload and the sound coming out the analog outputs is clean (I cannot adjust the digital input level on the DAT machine).

RE: Solution involving disabling Sleep mode on Apple TV: very interesting, I'll try that. I had already tried disabling Dolby Digital and changing the audio stream from 16-bit to automatic and vice versa to no avail.

Hopefully Apple will get their act together and fix this in a firmware update.

Hi vetteman01,

I think the apple tv is sending audio out on a fixed volume level with a certain maximum value and when incoming audio levels are too low it is being cranked up. A fixed volume is logical; otherwise you have to adjust volumes on both your stereo receiver and the apple tv. This can be confusing 🙂 The thing is that the maximum level on the output of the apple tv is probably too high and this introduces audio clipping and distortion.

Although I have tried a new thing wich, I think, have reduced the clicks and popping sounds: the whole setup (including my laptop when I want to play music) is now connected via an UTP cable and no more WIFI. Maybe the apple airplay/bonjour protocol is quite sensitive to disruptions in digital streams and has no decent error correction method. Since a datastream via an UTP cable is less likely to be corrupted than over a WIFI signal, this has somewhat improved my sound quality for as far I can surmise..

Message was edited by: Davith78

Hi Davith78:

Just last night for the very first time I actually bought a TV series through the Apple TV. As I said in my last post, the meters were always pegging on my DAT machine but never distorting. I am using the DAT machine as a DAC between the AppleTV and my receiver. Last night when I was watching the TV series, I noticed that I had -9.5 DB of headroom left on the DAT machine after watching the entire show. This is the very first time that I noticed that the meters weren't pegged from any source whatsoever coming out of the optical output of the AppleTV. I believe the TV show is stored in iCloud, Apples' cloud service and streams from there. Since the meters weren't pegged, I would respectfully have to disagree about the Apple TV boosting levels to a maximum output level unless something very specific is happening between iCloud and the AppleTV. I was very happy to see that I actually had some headroom left as this was the very first time I noticed that I wasn't on the ragged edge.

Just another hitch in the mystery...

Thanks for all your conscientious posting!

Hi vetteman01,

Today I found this article on the sound quaility of the apple tv:

http://www.appledystopia.com/bad-apple/apple-tv-poor-audio-quality/

According to the author:

" The problem with Apple TV (versions 2 and 3) is that it converts the audio into a different format. If your music is encoded at 44.1khz, which is common, it will be converted to 48khz by Apple TV. This conversion process leaves noticeable audio artifacts, particularly in the high frequencies. I can hear swishy cymbals and generally bad reproduction of high frequencies. I noticed the audio problems first, and then searched for reasons. This is not a case of the specs fooling me into thinking the quality is inferior. The inferior audio quality is quite noticeable, and other people hear it too. This is not good. I have an excellent B&O stereo. I have studio monitors on my Mac. I take audio quality seriously. Once again, Apple’s product quality is the fly in the ointment. "

If this is true, there is probably nothing we can do to fix the problem. The solution should come from apple. I hope the audio conversion is done by software and not automatically via the internal hardware of the apple tv. Maybe a future jailbreak can fix this issue for us 😉

Strange that your experience is that when you stream a tv show from the apple cloud, the level boosting issue is gone. I have no reasonable explanation for that..

I've just picked up an apple tv 3 and noticed that home sharing audio quality is terrible. It's very tolerable airplaying my mac. Would a jailbreak fix this issue when it comes out?

Hi guys,

i had the same issue like you, so here is my solution.

Quite simple, i tried to use ethernet cable except wifi connection, optical audio out except hdmi (hdmi just for video to TV)and the difference is HUGE.

My setup is Yamaha RX-V467

reciever and magnat 5.1 supreme monitor set.

I hope it will helps

Hi zahradkee:

If you read some of the older posts, you will notice that I also had success using the Optical Output for audio. I have NOT had a problem since using the Optical Output for audio. I use the HDMI to get the picture to my television, but do NOT use that same HDMI for the audio as it is WAY distorted!!

Thanks for verifiying that the Optical Output is the way to go and eliminates the rather harsh distortion issue!

Interesting. I suppose if you listen to 48 kHz material (which is becoming more common on download sites), then you wouldn't notice this.

But it would be nice if Apple offered upgrades to 48 kHz MP4s for iTunes Store purchase, since it takes up just a little more space and all their hardware can handle it. My only question would be is if you'd have to bump the bit rate to 320 kHz as well.

You are mistaken to think a Sample Rate of 48 KHz would make any difference. The sample rate is just the sample rate. It has absolutely nothing to do with the level the digital audio signal is recorded or played back at.

Same with the Bit Rate (which is quantified as kbps or kilobits per second and not KHz as you state). The bit rate has absolutely nothing to do with the level the digital audio is recorded or played back at either. Every combo you through at the Apple TV distorts in our particular situation. Why other people DO NOT have this problem I can not say.

Sample Rates and Bit Rates can be mish-mashed together at any number for each. There is no "correct match" between the two other than some which are generally used together such as 44.1 / 1411 (normal CD), etc. I have combos in my music library that run from 352.8 / 16934 (which the WiFi can barely keep up with) to 11.025 / 45 and everything in between including 44.1 / 112 to 44.1 / 1411 just to show you how much variation there can be.

Please look these terms up on the web to educate yourself better on this subject, but basically, Sample Rate determines the Frequency Range one is able to record with higher sample rates providing a higher maximum frequency (into the "dog" hearing range), while Bit Rate determines the Dynamic Range, or the difference between the quietest and loudest sound level in the recording. Good luck recording a realistic thunder clap using a Bit Rate of 45 kbps (it would sound totally compressed) or making a good recording of the New York Philharmonic using a sample rate of 11.025 KHz which would sound like it was coming from an old dial telephone.

Regardless, either one of these is not causing distortion as distortion is related to signal level (or defective recording / playback equipment).

I have the same problem. I'm using a Bose V35 to integrate al my inputs and simplify the remotes. The connection is with HDMI (direction of travel checked).

I'm already using optical for BluRay. The V35 is quite sensitive to input gain and other devices (eg cable box and BluRay) have to be adjusted quite low to avoid the distortion. However, with the Apple TV there is no adjustment to audio output levels. It doesn't seem like anyone has a solution to this problem. Does Apple listen to feedback?

Have you read carefully through this entire discussion? There are some good tips and the usual amount of "fluff".

I would suggest buying a good outboard DAC with an input level control, plugging the optical from the Apple TV into that, and besides getting a good D to A conversion, you can then plug the analog outs from the DAC into any available analog inputs on the processing / amplification equipment you are using.

I realize, this requires buying an outboard DAC if you don't already own one, but DACs are so usefull in general (and one with an input level control will specifically solve this problem), that I feel it is the overall best solution until Apple reinstates an output level control in the Apple TV.

Hi,

I might be 1 year late to help you but.

I'm not sure if this is your case but I fixed it by simply lowering the TV volume output. The sound is pure now.

I have an ATV 3gen connected via HDMI to a Sony Bravia, and a BOSE 2.1 system connected to the TV. The sound is great now.

I hope this helps.

I appreciate your input. We had already ruled that out earlier in the discussion.

I was able to solve my issue by sending the HDMI from the AppleTV to the Televison for Picture Purposes Only. You keep the Volume on the Television set to off (zero).

The audio portion comes from the Optical Digital Audio Output on the rear panel of the AppleTV. Feed that into your receiver (if equipt with Optical Digital Audio Input), select that input and listen to the sound portion through your receiver.

Since I have an old receiver with no Optical Digital Audio Inputs, I solved my issue by sending the Optical Digital Audio Output on the rear panel of the AppleTV to a separate D to A Converter (In my case a 20 year old Sony DAT Recorder) and pluging the Analog RCA Outputs of the D to A Coverter (whatever it maybe, you can get creative here) into an Aux Channel on my receiver.

Either way, if you are suffering from this issue, you have to split the picture and sound up. This generation AppleTV does not provide for adjusting the audio level (volume) coming out of it's HDMI Port. The audio level coming out of the HDMI Cable from the Apple TV is way to "hot" and overloads the inputs of whatever it is plugged into. It's too late to fix at that point.

It doesnt matter if I use the Optical Audio out of the ATV or the optical audio out of the Samsung TV, it is still distorted. I can not believe that Apple has let this go for so long.

So after reading this whole thread, it seems as there is no potion. There must be 10's of thousands of ATV out there and still no solution from Apple. Very disapointing.

Houston

Hi Fellow, I have solved the audio distortion problem on my ATV by lowering the Television volume and raising the amplifier volume. My tv is conected via HDMI to the ATV and conected to a Bose 2.1 simple sound system and now it is crystal clear. Try this, low the volume of your television and increase the volume of your sound system (if you have one).

I hope this helps

Regards, Renato from Brazil